Health Benefits of Swimming

Swimming is referred as one of the perfect exercises with a wide variety of health benefits. Swimming is beneficial for all age groups and it is mostly utilized by athletes to stay strong and fit. Swimming also helps in recovering from certain joint diseases and avoids the risk of surgery.

Benefits of Swimming

The most common benefits of swimming include the following:

Improve muscle strength

Swimmers have stronger muscles when compared to people who do not swim. Swimmers generally gain muscle strength throughout their body whereas, runners see muscle build up only in their legs. More number of muscles is utilized to move through the water. You can select swimming if you are looking for a total body work out. It is one of the best aerobic exercises that can improve your health.

Build up bone mass

Swimming shows an increase in both BMD and femoral bone weight when compared to running and other exercises. Only weight-bearing exercises and swimming can help in achieving bone mass.

Increase flexibility

Swimming requires certain stretches and twists that will help you in making your body flexible. It is said that your ankles became fins and are stretched with each kick as you push off against the water pressure while swimming. Repetitive stretching makes your body more flexible.

Reduces Inflammation

Swimming improves your cardiovascular health and strengthens your heart muscles. Swimming reduces inflammation in your body that can result in atherosclerosis. As the inflammation is reduced, the risk of disease progression also gets reduced.

Burn calories

Swimming is one of the easiest ways to burn calories. Swimming is equally efficient as walking on treadmill and can burn equal or more calories. Swimming can burn around 60 -100 calories.

Improve exercise induced asthma

Generally physical exertion or exercise can make asthma worse. Swimming allows you to breathe moist air and helps in alleviating asthma symptoms. Swimming also increases your overall lung volume and can teach you new breathing techniques.

Lowers stress and depression

There are certain hormones that are released in your body while swimming which can relax your body and give a feel-good emotion. Swimming is also considered as a calming and meditative technique that helps you focus inward and drown out all distractions. Swimming can reverse the damage to the brain by a process called hippocampal neurogenesis.

Enhance your beauty

Swimming in salt water is considered as a beauty treatment. Swimming in salt water can help you in retaining moisture and detoxify and eventually promotes cell growth.

Lowers disease risk

Regular swimming can decrease the risk of various cardiovascular diseases and improve your heart health. Swimming also helps in controlling your blood sugar levels and lowers your blood pressure. Cholesterol levels can be managed with swimming. Swimmers are less likely to suffer with type 2 diabetes and heart disease when compared to non swimmers.

Improves sleep

People who daily swim are less likely to have sleep related disorders. Swimming reduces the risk of insomnia and helps you in having a peaceful sleep.

Swimming is one of the best aerobic exercises that you can select to improve your health and fitness. Regular swimming not only improves your physical health, but also improves your mental health and increases your smartness and problem solving ability.

Atefa Noorain, (Microbiologist) former Head of the Department of Life Sciences, Assistant Professor of Microbiology at Sujatha Degree College for Women.
She worked as an Associate Research Analyst at Thomson Reuters and an Associate Editor of two research journals. She has presented her research work in 3 International Conferences.
She has written articles for national journals and international journals. She had been felicitated as a Young Speaker in the last conference. She has worked on Nanoparticles as a part of her research project and won the Best Scientist of the Day award.